The present invention relates to portable single burner campstoves and more particularly to portable single burner campstoves of the type useful for backpacking.
The developments of portable compstoves has closely paralleled the increased interest in outdoor activities such as picnicing, backpacking, and camping. Larger portable campstoves of the two burner type were developed having wind screens consisting of the upturned lid and outwardly folded side flaps. These stoves could be positioned so that the upturned lid was against the direction of the wind. Smaller portable campstoves of the single burner type are usually not provided with wind screens because it is not practical to do so. As a result, the development of portable campstoves of the latter type was impeded due to their failure to transfer heat as efficiently as desired, especially under cross-wind conditions.
I subsequently developed a portable single burner campstove characterized by wind resistance and high efficiency. It was specifically adapted to use with bottles of liquified propane or other similar gaseous fuels. The features of the campstove of my earlier invention are fully disclosed and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,933,146. It was noted there that certain features could also be adapted for use with pressurized liquid fuel such as gasoline, naptha, kerosene or the like. While I successfully provided a portable single burner campstove of the type described, I noted a specific need for a portable single burner campstove for backpacking characterized by compactness in addition to wind resistance and high efficiency.
Because of the requirement of compactness for equipment used in backpacking, I sought to develop a pressurized liquid fuel burning campstove with minimum external dimensions. It was apparent that these rather demanding requirements dictated by the severe space limitations inherent in backpacking and the like were not satisfied by conventional stove assemblies. Although conventional campstoves could be modified to successfully employ the advantages of my earlier invention thereby providing a high degree of wind resistance and high efficiency, they were not sufficiently compact for the intended use particularly the portions thereof comprising the venturi assembly and the burner box assembly. It became apparent that at least these portions of conventional stove assemblies would have to be completely redesigned for backpacking and the like in order to satisfy these requirements in a suitable fashion. Accordingly, I sought to develop a combined venturi and burner box assembly that would successfully entrain air, mix air and fuel, trap unvaporized fuel, purge unvaporized fuel and distribute an air/fuel mixture to the burner of a backpacking campstove having minimum external dimensions to meet the requirement of compactness.
While the prior art has failed to overcome the problems associated with providing a portable single burner campstove for backpacking, the present invention provides a successful campstove design accomplishing the outlined objectives.